BB: General New England Discussion

[straightHeat3]

Date: Monday, April 26, 2010
New England Divison III College Baseball Coaches Poll
(Conducted by New England College Baseball Coaches, First Place Votes in parentheses, followed by record and total points)

Division III
1. Tufts (5) 21-4 40 pts.
2. Wheaton 25-7 34 pts.
3. Western New England 28-8 26 pts.
4. Eastern Connecticut 23-8 25 pts.
5. Worcester State 24-7-1 10 pts.
6. St. Joseph's, ME 28-10 8 pts.
7. Bowdoin 21-10 7 pts.
7. Curry 25-11 7 pts.
Also Receiving Votes: Westfield State (6), Trinity (5), Bates (4), WPI (4), Williams (2), Endicott
(1), Wesleyan (1).

D3Baseball.com Rankings
Through games of April 25, 2010
# School (No. 1 votes) Rec. Pts
1 Johns Hopkins (23) 34-5 623
2 UW-Whitewater (2) 026-3 580
3 Wooster 31-7 545
4 Heidelberg 26-6 509
5 St. Thomas 21-5 500
6 Chapman 25-8 489
7 St. Scholastica 29-3 463
8 Birmingham-Southern 34-5 456
9 Pomona-Pitzer 28-8 394
10 Mississippi College 32-7 377
11 Marietta 24-8 353
12 Cortland State 27-7 341
13 Shenandoah 34-8 333
14 Trinity (Texas) 32-7 297
15 Eastern Connecticut 23-8 282
16 Pacific Lutheran 30-7 209
17 Kean 24-9 192
18 Wheaton (Mass.) 25-7 181
19 UW-Stevens Point 21-8 164
20 Texas-Tyler 30-10 110
21 Washington and Jefferson 24-6 105
22 Rose-Hulman 24-9 99
23 Salisbury 25-9 97
24 Redlands 27-8 75
25 Trinity (Conn.) 15-8 69

Dropped out: No. 21 Rochester
Others receiving votes: Tufts 66, North Central (Ill.) 49, Linfield 47, Texas Lutheran 30, Keystone 30, Adrian 14, Concordia (Ill.) 13, Augustana 8, Plattsburgh State 8, Webster 5, FDU-Florham 4, Mary Washington 3, Rowan 2, Rochester 2, Oneonta State 1


Totally agree with the NE regional rankings that came out, just hate the fact that teams seem to get ranked just by the name on their jerseys... Trinity ranked 25 when they are just receiving votes in its own region?! Im not hating on Trinity just proving a point. NE teams like Tuffs and WNEC never get any love in those rankings for how strong NE is overall.

[KSCfan]

Straightheat i would agree with your point about Trinity.  I think that at 15-8 their are much better choices for teams to be in the top 25.  Tufts has the best record in NE and no love from the d3 poll??? Not taking anything away from Trinity but def some better choices avaliable

[wordsmith]

Totally agree with the NE regional rankings that came out, just hate the fact that teams seem to get ranked just by the name on their jerseys... Trinity ranked 25 when they are just receiving votes in its own region?! Im not hating on Trinity just proving a point. NE teams like Tuffs and WNEC never get any love in those rankings for how strong NE is overall.

Totally agree....Interesting that the Big Two of New England (EConn & USM)has now expanaded to the Big Four. That is teams that are traditionally rated higher nationally than perhaps deserved.....Wheaton, EConn, Trinity and USM.

What I do believe that shows is those programs are regarded highly throughout the nation, and that can only be good for New England, at least IMO. Again as I have said before, the WNECs, KSCs, St. Joe's, Tufts, etc. have to make a trip to the WCS to stamp themselves legit nationally. Wheaton was not always highly rated until they went to the WCS and performed pretty well.

Several of these NE programs remind me of the old Houston Oilers of the 1970's (God Word you really are an old fart aren't you!!?) They kept banging on the door of the Steelers and never quite got to the Super Bowl. Those Oiler teams were great teams in their own right, just not the level of the iconic (say what?)Steelers.

By the way, a story is making the rounds in certain New England circles that a coaching change is in the offing at a premiere NE school after 2011. If I read our Terms of Service correct I really can't and shouldn't go any further than that, but   keep your ears & eyes alert this fall.

TMZ-Word

[RSSmith]

Good point RSSmith about 2 pool c bids.  Will anyone get shipped to the NY regional.  Could Eastern get shipped on a pool C bid, or would the NCAA save Eastern some money and have them stay home?  2 pool C bids would gurantee Eastern that bid, but i wonder if anyone will go to Cortland, maybe Castleton if they win the NAC??? Last couple of years we have seen teams get bumped out of NE for NY but could this year be the year that they all stay home in NE.   I would think that Cortland is prob closer than Mansfield for teams like Castleton

I don't see any NE team being shipped to New York (which will almost certainly be a 6-team regional).  If one of the NY teams wins the NAC, however, I could see the NCAA keeping them home.

[RSSmith]

Wheaton 12--RIC 0.  ECSU 19--Tufts 5.  Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do.

[KSCfan]

Eastern pasting Tufts might of punched thier pool C bid, espically if Tufts goes chalk in the NESCAC, Ric getting pasted by Wheaton has less of an impact i feel.  RIC has come on hard times here at the wrong time of the year, dropping 2 to Eastern and now to Wheaton shows RIC has fallen off a little bit right now, would of been a statement to win these games, but alas the evil empire beats down not-so tufts and Wheaton hammors the anchormen

[Hobbesy]

Hold the phone on pool c bids!

WNEC upset in round 1 of the CCC tournament by Anna Maria.  This could change things if WNEC doesnt even make the championship round.

Also, Eastern pounds Tufts and even Curry was almost upset on day 1.

http://ned3baseball.wordpress.com/

[wordsmith]

Hold the phone on pool c bids!

WNEC upset in round 1 of the CCC tournament by Anna Maria.  This could change things if WNEC doesnt even make the championship round.

Also, Eastern pounds Tufts and even Curry was almost upset on day 1.

http://ned3baseball.wordpress.com/

Still think it isn't possible that a NY team comes East as an At-Large?

[Rick Vaughn]

I agree with word...You can't just say a NY team will be sent to NE.  Give us some names on who would?  That way we can at least compare resumes for Pool C's.

[Hobbesy]

Rick-

I dont know if you are responding to me but I dont think a New York team will be sent to New England.  I think someone mentioned on here that it will probably be another six team region which I agree with.  If that is the case, I just dont see anyone from New York getting shipped here.

As far as my post was concerned I think if WNEC doesnt make it to the championship round of the CCC that will make it a real tight race for schools looking for a pool c in New England.  Especially if some teams dont win their conference tournament like ECSU or Tufts. 

[wordsmith]

God I feel like Mel Kiper, Jr. just without the hair gel, or the hair for that matter:)

Anyway, here goes, say WNEC loses in the next game or two. And the rest of the Conferences go chalk. Who is in the running for a Pool C. Sure it still could be WNEC, perhaps they have done enough. I sure hope so....But....

Guys a lot smarter than me have a better understanding of all the intricate calculations.....but from my perspective I just don't see a NE school that pops out as a Pool C. I don't have a great handle on NY but the little I do know is there seems to be a strong field there. If one or more contenders gets a TKO in the Championship Round, isn't it possible, given the state of affairs in NE this year, a NY team could come EAST?

Phew...my brain hurts......

Word

[Hobbesy]

Lets see-

NY Region

SUNYAC- Cortland St.
Liberty League- Rochester
Skyline- Farmingdale

Pool B- St. John Fisher

Pool C- Plattsburgh or Oneonta and if Rochester doesnt win Liberty League

Possible NAC/NEAC Winner

If top teams dont win conference tournaments in New York that will throw a big wrench in the process.

For instance, if Cortland loses SUNYAC they will be a shoe in as an at-large.  Same goes for Rochester losing Liberty League I think.

No Ithaca this year because of 12-13 record but St. John Fisher at 23-10 could take their place out of the E8. 

With that being said that gives New York about five teams that could get a bid.  And none of those teams are anywhere near New England.  In 2008, there was three out of region teams shipped to New York (Eastern, Montclair and a team from Ohio).  Last year one team was sent to New York because Clarkson upset RPI in the Liberty League and that gave the region 5 teams. 

If history holds serve then I see that happening again this year.  I dont feel New York is a very strong region at all, possibly the weakest in the nation.  Cortland should be in the World Series every year with the competitive advantage they hold.  Ithaca and Cortland are the only proven National Contenders in that region and I dont think that will change. 

Now as for a New England team heading to New York...look for a team that may win an upset in the conference tournaments that has a bad record (a la Eastern in 2006).  Other than that its up in the air.

But lets say we have some upsets...

NEWMAC- Wheaton
LEC- Keene
MASCAC- Framingham
NAC- Castleton
NESCAC- Williams
GNAC- Suffolk
TCCC- Endicott

That leaves possible pool C's to WNEC, Eastern, Tufts, Curry, Westfield St and Worcester St.

I think Tufts gets in because of their SOS.  Then it comes down to Eastern and WNEC a very tough decision.  It appears WNEC would have the edge but I think it would depend on how deep each team got in their respective tournaments.  An early exit from the CCC kills WNEC and the same would be true for Eastern.

But I think in the scenario, despite WNEC's win over Eastern, ECSU gets the bid.  That means they stay home because they wont ship a host team out and sends either Framingham, Williams or Castleton to New York.

If all conferences hold serve you would be left with WNEC, Williams, Worcester/Westfield looking for a bid

In this case I feel WNEC gets the first bid and no teams are shipped out of New England.  That means New York will take someone from the Mid-Atlantic or Ohio to fill out their bracket.

I think that made sense???

[Stump]

Hobbesy:
  That kind of does make sense. Good analysis. I thought N.Y. might be stronger/deeper this year but it doesn't seem so. In past years I know N.Y. was thin and weak seems to always have teams shipped in. My best guess would be Castleton getting shipped to N.Y.(probably almost  as close as going to ECSU for them)

[GBearsAlum15]

The NY region is definitely down with usual powers RPI and Ithaca having subpar years and not making the regionals, unless RPI can somehow manage to win the LL tournament. I think it might be possible to ship a NE team that isn't expected to win their conference tournament out to NY so that a pool C bid or two can be filled in the NE regional (i.e. WNEC, Eastern, etc). It would be unfortunate if teams like WNEC, Eastern, Westfield St/Worcester St don't make the regionals, especially since the NY region is so much weaker and spots can be filled in by upset winners of NE conferences, making room for a couple quality at-large teams.

[Rick Vaughn]

Great breakdown Hobbsey...With all the crazy happenings this year chalk is not likely.